Pallister Government Divorced from Reality on Budget
March 4, 2019
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Liberal Leader and MLA for St. Boniface, Dougald Lamont says the Pallister Government is grossly misleading Manitobans about the province's finances, services and economy with the release of its Third Quarter Report for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
"The central problem with this government is that they treat budget numbers as pure public relations, with no commitment to being accurate or honest with their budgeting practices," said Lamont.
Lamont said for the past two years, the Federal government has increased health care transfers while the Pallister government has decreased its share of spending (see chart below).
According to the Province's own Third Quarter Report, Federal health funds have increased by $56-million dollars, while the province's health increase is at $50-million. That means six million dollars is being re-directed to general revenue.
The PCs claim they are spending hundreds of millions more on health care, when their own numbers show that spending has flat-lined over the past three years. During that period, Federal health care spending increased by $184-million and total Federal transfers increased by $1-billion.
The claim that Manitoba's economy is strong ignores the fact that hundreds of jobs have been lost in the mining sector. Recent projections by The Conference Board of Canada also highlight slow economic growth in our province.
Lamont said this government is passing the buck by shifting all of the burden and costs of cuts to Manitoba families and communities - many of whom are already at a breaking point.
"The Pallister government has left nearly $1.9-billion in Federal funds on the table, including funds for infrastructure, health, the environment and more," said Lamont. "Instead of investing for the future, the PCs have been choking off growth in our province."
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